What do the 2026 local search ranking factor surveys actually measure?
Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors report aggregates judgments from a panel of 47 invited local-search experts. The survey asks participants to score 187 factors and estimate how much weight Google attributes to groups of factors. The report measures practitioner judgment, not Google's hidden algorithm weights.1
The survey is useful as a dated record of what a specialist panel believes influences local pack, Maps, local organic and AI Search visibility. It is not a percentage breakdown of Google's algorithm. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity, and that its algorithm details are confidential.2 For profile work, see the Google Maps optimization guide; for the wider relationship between a profile and local SEO, see what to do for local SEO beyond your Google Business Profile.
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By Sergey Sulimko, Founder · ·
Compiled from 6 sources
- Read
- Oct 1 - Oct 17, 2026
What did the 2026 survey ask experts to score?
Whitespark's instrument separates individual-factor scores from group-level weight estimates. The table shows what each part measures and its denominator.
| Survey component | Reported measure | Source, sample and date | What the measure describes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expert panel | 47 local-search experts were invited to complete a comprehensive 2-hour survey. | Whitespark's 2026 report; 47 invited experts; published November 6, 2025.1 | The people whose judgments supply the scores. |
| Individual factors | 187 factors were scored. | Whitespark's 2026 report; 47 invited experts; published November 6, 2025.1 | The size of the survey instrument, not the number of Google ranking rules. |
| Impact scores | Each factor received a score from 0 to 5 in four areas: local pack/Maps ranking impact, local organic ranking impact, conversion impact and AI Search visibility impact. | Whitespark's 2026 report; 47 invited experts; published November 6, 2025.1 | The panel's assessment of impact in each named area. AI Search visibility was new for the 2026 edition. |
| Factor ranking | The experts' scores were summed and ranked by total score. | Whitespark's 2026 report; combined scores from the 47 invited experts; published November 6, 2025.1 | The relative order of factors by the panel's combined judgment. |
| Group-weight estimates | Participants estimated how much weight Google attributes to each ranking-factor group for local pack/Maps and local organic results. The 2026 survey also asked for AI Search visibility estimates. | Whitespark's 2026 report; group-level estimates from the 47 invited experts; published November 6, 2025.1 | A panel estimate of Google's weighting, not an observed value from Google's systems. |
Which individual factors scored highest in the 2026 Local Pack/Maps list?
Primary GBP Category ranked first with a total score of 227, followed by Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance) at 225 and Keywords in GBP Business Title at 223.
| Rank | Factor | Total score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primary GBP Category | 227 |
| 2 | Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance) | 225 |
| 3 | Keywords in GBP Business Title | 223 |
| 4 | Physical Address in City of Search | 213 |
| 5 | Business is Open at Time of Search (Business Hours) | 189 |
| 6 | High Numerical Google Ratings (e.g. 4-5) | 181 |
| 7 | Address Is Showing on GBP (Not SAB) | 176 |
| 8 | Additional GBP Categories | 173 |
| 9 | Quantity of Native Google Reviews (w/text) | 170 |
| 10 | Proper Placement of the Map Pin | 165 |
Show all 10 rows
These totals are expert opinions, not observed Google weights. Whitespark says the participating experts do not have special access to Google's internal local-search algorithm.1 Google's US-English guidance instead names relevance, distance and popularity as the main factors and says that it keeps the search algorithm details confidential.2
Read the full section
Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors report says 47 local-search experts scored 187 factors. The report sums the experts' scores and ranks factors by total. The table shows the top 10 factors in its Local Pack/Maps ranking-impact list.1
What were the 2026 group weights, and how did they compare with 2023?
The 2026 group weights are expert estimates, and only Local Pack/Maps and Local Organic have a comparable 2023 baseline.
The public record reproducing Whitespark's 2026 tables reports eight groups for each result type. The 2023 chart transcription documents comparable group estimates for Local Pack/Maps and Local Organic, but not for AI Search. The table shows the published values and the percentage-point change, calculated as 2026 minus 2023.3,4
| Group | Local Pack/Maps 20263 | Local Organic 20263 | AI Search 20263 | Local Pack/Maps 20234 | Change (pp) | Local Organic 20234 | Change (pp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile (GBP) | 32% | 7% | 12% | 32% | 0 pp | 9% | -2 pp |
| Review | 20% | 6% | 16% | 16% | +4 pp | 6% | 0 pp |
| On-Page | 15% | 33% | 24% | 19% | -4 pp | 36% | -3 pp |
| Behavioral | 9% | 10% | 4% | 8% | +1 pp | 9% | +1 pp |
| Link | 8% | 24% | 13% | 11% | -3 pp | 26% | -2 pp |
| Citation | 6% | 7% | 13% | 7% | -1 pp | 7% | 0 pp |
| Personalization | 6% | 8% | 9% | 6% | 0 pp | 7% | +1 pp |
| Social | 4% | 5% | 9% | No comparable group documented | New in cited 2026 table | No comparable group documented | New in cited 2026 table |
Show all 8 rows
Read the full section
The 2026 source describes a survey sent to 47 local-search experts who reviewed 187 factors, scored from 0 to 5, across result and impact areas that include the new AI Search category. The 2023 supporting records describe 44 practitioners and 149 factors, and provide the comparable group percentages.3,4,5 The panel and instrument changed, so these deltas describe differences between two survey tables. They do not show that Google's algorithm changed by the same amount.
What does a 0 to 5 score mean in the survey?
A 0 to 5 score is an expert assessment of a factor's impact in a named area, not a probability that Google uses that factor.
Whitespark asks each participant to score every factor across four separate outcomes. A score therefore answers, “How much impact do I think this factor has in this area?” It does not answer, “What percentage of local ranking does Google assign to this factor?”1
The total-score ranking preserves the survey's denominator. It orders the 187 factors by the combined scores from 47 experts. It does not convert those scores into a published share of Google's local-search system.1
Are the reported weights Google's actual algorithm weights?
No. The reported weights are estimates from invited experts, while Google's actual algorithm details remain confidential.
Whitespark says the participating experts do not have special access to Google's internal local-search algorithm. The report says its factors and responses draw on more than a decade of analysis, experience, research and testing of signals used to evaluate and rank businesses.1
Read the full section
Google's Business Profile guidance gives a shorter public description: local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking and that it keeps algorithm details confidential.2 That public guidance and the expert survey answer different questions. One states Google's broad disclosure; the other records practitioner estimates within a defined survey instrument.
What does Google's structured-data documentation add?
Google's structured-data documentation explains how to give Google explicit clues about a page's meaning; it does not publish a local-ranking weight for structured data.
Google Search Central describes structured data as a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying its content.6 That is documentation about helping Google understand content. It is not a result from Whitespark's expert survey and is not a numeric ranking factor weight.
How should you read the 2026 survey?
Read the survey as a dated map of specialist judgment and estimated group weighting, not as a ranking recipe.
The report can show which factors experts placed higher or lower within its 187-factor instrument. It can also show where experts think group-level importance lies across local pack/Maps, local organic and AI Search visibility. Use those labels when comparing the report with the broader local SEO subject, rather than treating a survey position as a guaranteed change in a business's results.
These scores are a dated record of what 47 invited experts believe, not a published percentage of Google's algorithm.
What this does not show
What do the 2026 survey results not tell you?
The 2026 survey does not establish a factor's causal effect, a fixed percentage of Google's algorithm, or how a specific business will rank.
The survey does not test one factor while holding every other local-search condition constant. It does not report Google's internal weights, a universal threshold for a Business Profile, or an outcome for one business. A reader who needs the public platform description should start with Google's local-ranking guidance, not infer a hidden formula from the survey's order.
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Sources
- 1Local Search Ranking FactorsWhitesparkpublished November 6, 2025; 47 invited local-search experts, 187 factors and four 0 to 5 scoring areas in the 2026 edition, read October 17, 2026
- 2
- 3The 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors on Maps, Organic & AIAdvice Localpublished December 2, 2025; public record of Whitespark's 2026 survey tables, including 47 experts, 187 factors, 0 to 5 scores and eight groups
- 4SEOnews, readable transcription of the 2023 Google local-search ranking-factor chart, published April 4, 2023; source for the 2023 Local Pack/Maps and Local Organic group percentages. Read the 2023 transcription
- 5Local search ranking & conversion factors to know for 2023Rio SEOpublished April 26, 2023; public record reporting 44 practitioners and 149 potential factors in the 2023 survey
- 6Add Business Details to GoogleGoogle Search Centrallast updated December 10, 2025, read October 1, 2026
Cite this page
Maps Agent, "What do the 2026 local search ranking factor surveys actually measure?", updated Oct 17, 2026, maps-agent.com/